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A WAREHOUSE IN Dublin’s docklands that was sold by U2 will be transformed into an office building after Dublin City Council approved the plan this week.
The project at 30-32 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay will see the Victorian warehouse turned into offices with a “glass box” design as well as a ground floor restaurant.
The planning notice says that the plan, which is being designed by Henry J Lyons Architects, will deliver over 1,500 square metres of office space split over two floors.
It will also contain a 311 square metre restaurant.
Property company IPUT, which owns the site, says that the plan will feature a “sensitive restoration” of the former Tropical Fruit Warehouse, which was used as offices for U2′s Principle Management up until its sale in 2016. Reports at the time put the cost of the sale at up to €15 million.
IPUT says the restoration will improve the public realm in the area, which is on the southside of the Samuel Beckett Bridge.
“The glazed extension emphasises the protected structure while complementing the surrounding buildings and riverside setting.
“Improvements to the public realm will create a vibrant space that promotes human interaction with the built environment while also providing public connections from the river through Whitaker Square and the city block.”
The planning notice says that vehicular access from the site will be replaced by “a pedestrian-only landscaped route running from Sir John Rogerson’s Quay adjoining the existing warehouses to Whitaker Square”.
The development also includes shower and changing facilities and a rooftop screened plant enclosure.
Dublin City Council approved the plan on Tuesday, with conditions.
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Maybe a residential building that housed hundreds might have been a better use? But no, we got even more offices!
@Shane Zerbe: “Hundreds” with no jobs ? Public transport in and to the area is first class.
@Tom Molloy: the jobs market is booming and I wouldn’t call irregular overcrowded trains first class.
@Shane Zerbe: people who pay taxes need a place to work. Free houses don’t grow on trees you know.
@Tom Molloy: we live in Dublin. Nowhere has anything like first class transport!
@Vincent: do you know how much office space is under construction in Dublin at the moment? Insane amounts. Virtually no apartment building …
@Shane Zerbe: and who was going to pay for this residential building that houses hundreds. Were you going to grant it a re zoning. Would these said People pay rent or live their free with willy wonka and all the chocolate in the world?
@Doug Leddin: what are you taking about ? It could have been sold to a developer if you wish. It would have still housed a lot of people. I’m sure you agree there is a housing crisis… well all this office development in prime areas, instead of residential, is making the problem far worse. These residents could then walk to work, it’s sustainable. Instead a lot of then use the third world public transport that Dublin offers …
@Shane Zerbe: there will never be apartment blocks built for families in the city again. The land is just too expensive. The only apartments built will be for super wealthy individuals or for multinationals to rent to their staff. This is just the reality. Affordable apartments for families will only be built in the suburbs.
@Conor Walsh: and thats how it should be .
@Conor Walsh: the councils set the regulations. I don’t agree with simply allowing the developer the the most profitable outcome … that’s a council failure, not a developer one!
@Shane Zerbe: to be honest I think prime city land should’nt be used for housing. If people want Dublin to advance as a major city then this has to be the way. The days of social housing being built on prime land should be a thing of the past.
@Conor Walsh: who said anything about social housing?
With all the money U2 have & considering they are all doing so much for “charity” all over the world you would have hoped that it could have been donated and converted into housing. But then does “charity” really begin at home. Way to go U2.
@bings: housing right at the bridge? Office and retail more suited for that spot. Not everything is about housing.
@bings: really…. let’s put some social housing next to the 3 arena. Good lad
@bings: you do realise U2 aren’t building this new office site and that at some point they owned it probably under an asset management company they set up to ensure they don’t go bankrupt or for a rainy day if it ever arose. They do a lot for charity but you can’t dictate where they do it.
@Doug Leddin: the point of bings post is just: U2 owe him things because something about taxes, and housing, housing, housing. The likes of these midgets will only be happy if we had no work and everyone in a house in a field.
@bings: Bonzo or bozo or bobo or whatever his name is and U2 must be kicking themselves that they sold.They would possibly have gotten more money for the building if theyhad kept if for a while longer.
@Kyle Malee: 3 arena is northside and this is southside. Not next to each other.
@Jim Sullivan: Jit or Jip or whatever your name is, are you famous and worth countless millions? Keep your begrudgery to yourself. Good lad and continue being a nobody.
Objection by An Taisce coming in 3..2..1
@Shauna McDermott: it’s 3 floors so they might not object. They would categorize this as “mid rise” I think it’s only five floors and up that they would deem “high rise”…
@Shane Zerbe: Converting / Refurbishment of a building over 50 years old? An objection by them is just about guaranteed.
-Yawn….is anything U2 related actually “news?” Boring band….somnumbulance inducing cultural legacy. Lets all move on…
@mmz: Will be hard to move on now given a U2 museum is being built in the Docklands only a few doors down from this location.
@Shane Corry: indeed, I suppose they are dinosaurs now, maybe fossils.
Word down our way is that U2 have insisted the building is deconsecrated before the new owners move in…
@Kieran Magennis: Dutch owners?
Looking at the picture of the proposed building I see zero architectural beauty.
what an ugly looking structure. glass boxes are all these people seem to be able to come up with. Is sticking on three floors of glass really the best use of this site?
Of course it’s designed by HJ Lyons, half the city is
DCC are at a level of incompetence that beggars belief. The total mess that is traffic management is being made even worse by putting more and more offices in this area. A sharp S bend as an entry/exit point for a bridge!! Really
Is this the same warehouse that they bought from NAMA, even though there was no public bidding on it??
This design is not ambitious enough. The planners need to stop missing opportunities to create high-rise in Dublin.
@J. Reid: particularly in the docklands.
DCC are at a level of incompetence that beggars belief. The total mess that is traffic management is being made even worse by putting more and more offices in this area. A sharp S bend as an entry/exit point for a bridge!! Really
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